


"About that Bear..."

by princessladybug



Series: The Swing Set 'Verse [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Age Play, Age Regression/De-Aging, Daddy Kink, M/M, Nonsexual Ageplay, One Shot, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 10:56:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1093052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessladybug/pseuds/princessladybug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The AU (sort of) where Dean and Sam have huge Daddy issues and Cas helps them through it. </p><p>Cas is called away on official angel business, Sammy is little, and Dean volunteers to take care of him. Fluff happens! It all starts with a stupid bear...</p><p>...and both Dean and Sam learn something about themselves, and Cas is not really surprised when he returns. </p><p>One-shot and huge plot change in the Swing Set 'Verse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"About that Bear..."

**Author's Note:**

> 1.) Here is the one-shot I promised.  
> 2.) I want all of you to have a Happy Holidays, I won't be posting again till the New Year, since I'm going to be with my family in the land of no interwebz.  
> 3.) That being said, I will have a lot of free time to write because I will be bored. So I will make sure to have plenty of updates ready for when I return.  
> 4.) That ALSO being said. Tell me what you want to read next, I can check my email on my phone, so your feedback in this hiatus will really influence what I write for the Swing Set 'Verse boys. I plan an finishing the Sick Baby Moose story, and I have only one other plot bunny I want to tackle with Sammy before I'm out of inspiration. I need some ideas for Cas and Dean... I feel like little Dean has been sorely neglected by me. Poor baby.  
> 5.) Thank you for all the kudos, comments, hits, and bookmarks. It's excellent that this 'Verse is so popular and I love writing it for you all as much I love writing it for myself.  
> 6.) I know I shamefully plug my tumblr in each story, but this time its important. While I am away, if I post anything about the Swing Set 'Verse it will be done on my tumblr. So follow it, I always follow back. The link is[ here.](http://princessladybug.tumblr.com/)  
> 7.) Also, usual warnings apply. Do not own these characters. Not beta read. Also, Ageplay is not pedophila. It is two adults in a consensual relationship playing the roles of adult and child.

* * *

 

It started with that stupid bear.

Dean was glaring at it in the rear view mirror; big, fluffy and his beady little eyes following each of his movements behind the wheel of the Impala.  Sam, of course, could not be parted from his new best friend. Not since Cas had won it for him at the traveling parking lot carnival they had stopped at.

Dean had pulled over the car begrudgingly when Sammy pointed out the window and begged them to stop for the festivities. Cas had been insistent that a break from traveling would be good for them. Dean was in no position to argue with the angel, and he did not feel like listening to Sammy whine and pout for the next hour.  So they poured out of the Impala, Sammy being clumsily child like as usual. Cas took his hand, and Dean found himself not even bothered that sometimes they carried on with the Daddy and little boy relationship in public. Most people would just assume that Sam and Cas were gay, in fact, he realized that he frowned more about it then the people around them. Dean fell into step behind his angel and very excited little brother, his hands jammed into the pocket of his leather jacket.

Everything was tolerable, until the moment that the over sized bear became part of their hunting party. Naturally, Sam had wanted to play ever cheesy, cheating carnival game there was. He failed miserably, his boyish hand eye coordination not offering him any advantages. Cas stepped to the rescue, and Dean just shook his head as he calculated the trajectory, the tricks, and the game within ten seconds. He knocked all the milk bottles over with the first baseball. The man blinked in confusion, but he offered them the prize without question.

“That one!” Sammy pointed at the gigantic, blue bear that was hanging from the rack. It was half Sam’s size… and that was saying something!

“Oh no!” Dean objected quickly. “We have nowhere to put that! No!”

“It can ride in the back seat with me!” Sam was already cuddling it his arms.  Cas was smiling. Dean was unable to tell if it was at Sam’s happiness or Dean’s fit against the bear.

“Dean,” Cas had tried to change his mind, but there was nothing in the world that Cas could say or do to make that bear welcome in his car… except for Sammy’s pout. He was looking at Dean with THAT look. The one where his brown eyes were swollen like large silver dollars, and his lips pressing together in the perfect pout.

“Fine,” Dean gave in, and Sammy bounced on sight.

He tolerated the bear, mostly because they had stopped for the night shortly after and the ride with their new companion had been brief. Dean thought he was going to hurl when Sam carried it out to the car the next morning. He propped it up in the seat and pulled the seat belt around its middle. “Mr. Buddy Bear has to ride safely too!” He announced with a grin.

“Mister Buddy Bear?” Dean repeated in disbelief. If Dean did not know any better, he would say that Sam was messing with him on purpose, but Cas assured him that Sam was not malicious, and Dean had forced himself to believe that.

He could suck it up for Sammy, and he did. Each time he looked in the rear view mirror, that stupid bear stared back at him. If it had not been for Cas placing a reassuring hand on his bouncing knee every few miles he would have pulled over the car, salted and burned that thing to ensure that it never came back to haunt him.

But then Cas was gone, and Dean had volunteered for suicide.

“Dean,” Cas said urgently. “I must go, important angel business.” It was rare that he left Sammy when he was little, and they both knew that it as serious if the angel garrison could pull him away from his Daddy duties, which he took very seriously. He was turning in the passenger seat to look at Sammy. “Daddy has to go, sweet boy. Do you need help being big before I go?”

“I..I..I…” Sam had been coloring in a book, being quite and good. Cas’ announcement caused his head to jerk up, a panicked expression on his pale cheeks. “But Daddy… I’m wearing my pull up. I…”

Cas wrinkled his face in puzzlement, trying to find a way to help Sam easily. It was true, that they had decided that Sammy wear the pull up for the car ride today. They had a long way to go, and Cas had insisted on the pretence that sometimes little boys could not hold it on very long drives. They both knew, however, that its real purpose was to serve as a physical sealant of keeping Sam in little boy headspace, and that fact alone made becoming a big boy all that much more difficult.

“I know it is very hard,” Cas tried to coax him gently back into adult headspace. “But Daddy needs you-

“I’ll take care of him,” Dean finally volunteered. He kind of felt bad for Sam, the idea of being jerked out of little boy headspace so suddenly and quickly seemed terrifying. “It shouldn’t be that hard… I mean… we’re driving, and I’m good at playing the big brother. We’ll be fine Cas, go.”

Cas looked between Sammy and Dean for a minute, considering his options. Of course he trusted Dean—that was not where his hesitation lay. He was worried about Sammy. He had never left Sammy alone as a little boy, and their “most, very important rule” as Sammy called it was that Cas be called and present when Sam was slipping.

“Are you okay with that Sam?” Castiel fixed the boy with a serious expression, needing an answer from both the little Sam and his inner adult.

Sam swallowed hard, before giving his consent. “Yeah, Cas, I will be fine.”

The angel accepted it, and then his voice fell back to his softer Daddy tone. “And you will be a good boy for your big brother, right?”

Sam was happy to regress to his childlike state again. He picked up the crayon he had been holding before going back to his artwork. “Yes! We’ll have a good time.”

“Course we will!” Dean agreed. He winked at Cas, who still looked worried.

“I promise, I won’t kill him.” Dean assured him, grinning. Cas finally accepted that there was no other option and he fluttered from the car.

“Whatca drawing back there, kid?” Dean inquired; he turned the radio down so he could hear his brother’s reply.

“Mister Buddy Bear and I are drawing a unicorn and a rainbow.”

Damn. Dean had almost forgotten about that obnoxious bear. When he looked in the mirror to check on Sam, it was there. Staring at him, looking straight through his soul.

“You know, big brother Dean has a rule,” the older Winchester finally said, after devising up a plan. “No stuffed animals in the car bigger then my arm!”

“Mister Buddy Bear is staying!” Sammy made a point to kick the back of Dean’s seat.

Without thinking, Dean swerved into shoulder of the road. He rounded in the seat and stared down Sam, a smoldering look of anger on his jar. Sam looked back at him, eyes wide, obviously shocked by their interaction as much as Dean was.

“What was that about Sam?” Dean asked, his voice low, almost a growl.

“I’m not sure,” he muttered, blinking. The crayon had dropped from his fingers and into his lap. “It came out of nowhere.”

The moment of frustration passed, not because Sam looked sorry, but because of the fucking bear. It was staring at him again. He laughed out loud; Sammy was looking at him in confusion. “Yeah… that was my fault that you lost your temper, Sammy. I shouldn’t tease you about your bear,” Dean finally admitted as he started the car again. “That bear just scares the crap out of me.”

Sammy relaxed again, shifting in his seat. For a moment, he had considered not being little with Dean, but he was willing to try it again. “He’s not scary,” Sammy promised as he reached over and booped the nose of the bear with his crayon. “He’s a big teddy bear! You just cuddle him!” Sam laid his head onto the bear.

“I’m NOT cuddling with him!” Dean drew the line as the car sped off again. They fell silent, Dean listening to the radio and Sammy doing his little boy things as he usually did in the car these days. Dean tried to not look back at the bear, and he finally just readjusted the mirror so that Sammy was the focus and not the back window and that damn animal.

“Do you need a pit stop, kid?” He asked when he noticed Sam squirming in his seat.

“Yeah,” Sam said sheepishly, biting his lip. A nod from Dean meant that he understood, and he found the nearest gas station. Waiting outside the bathroom door while Sam did his business, he made sure that Sam washed his hands before coming out. When Sam walked out, playfully flicking droplets of water into Dean’s face, he giggled and Dean could not hold back a smile.

“Good job,” he found himself praising, pressing a hand into the back of Sam’s neck to guide him away. “You can pick a snack and a drink. Make sure the drink has a lid or I’ll get out your sippy cup. I don’t want spills in my car.” Sammy was nodding as he listened to Dean’s instructions, before he turned on his heal and went to the cooler. “No Soda either!” Dean called after him. Sammy’s lips twisted in a pout, but he ended up picking up a bottle of orange juice with a screw on lid. Sam tossed some honey-roasted peanuts on the counter with his orange juice and Dean paid for them, before popping off the cap of his own coke and heading back the Impala.

They were on the road quickly, Sam munching on his peanuts happily. He was not sure how long they had been driving when Dean looked back to check on him.

“Samuel!”

“What?!” Sam looked back and forth frantically, trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

“Why are you not wearing your seatbelt?”

Sam looked down at his lap and the back up Dean. “Daddy always buckles me up.”

Relief flooded over Dean, he was happy to know that Sam had not been pushing him. There was no hesitation for Dean to pull over on the side of the road and perform that task that was usually reserved for Castiel.

“Remind me next time, buddy,” Dean ruffled his hair before shutting the door.

“Sorry, I didn’t tell you,” apologized Sammy, he was twisting the cap of his OJ nervously. “I forgotted.”

“Can’t forget about your safety, can we?” Dean asked, but he was smiling. He was trying to reassure Sam that he was not angry with him. “Next time you just need to tell me, I forget things that Daddy always remember.”

“That’s cause this is your first time,” Sam spoke matter of fact, as if he knew that this was not the only time that Dean would be taking care of him. Dean chose to ignore it, shrugging it off as if it did not matter. Again, they fell into a comfortable silence. Every few minutes, Sam would hum to himself as he colored a picture, or he would giggle at one of the books that he was reading. Dean found himself entirely comfortable with the whole situation, calmed by Sam’s childhood bliss. Tree’s and the telephone polls were a blur on the side of the road, but time had stopped in the car for Sam and Dean. Sammy was wrapped up in his moment of pure content; all he needed were his toys, his own head, and the security to know that someone was watching over him. Dean, on the other hand, was in pure shock, amazed by the fact that there was no internal struggle in his chest to fight this paternal and protective feeling over Sam. At one time, just the knowledge that his little brother was riding in the back seat of the impala wearing a pull up, coloring with crayons, and playing tic-tac-toe with an inanimate stuffed bear would have made him laugh out loud. In fact, he probably would have laughed at Sammy himself if situations had not been different. No, seeing Sam little was such a big part of their lives now, and Dean had never failed to pick up on the fact that when Sam was little… Sam was happy. Dean needed Sam to be happy as much as he needed to be happy, and if this was how Sam found his happiness, Dean had decided not to fight it anymore.

He did not even realize that he had been smiling since they left the gas station. Each time he looked back into the mirror to check on Sam, he was doing something even more obnoxiously cute then before. Dean had never been able to deny that Sam had gotten the adorable genetics—and he had gotten the more masculine and rugged genes—but he would swear that those cute attributes seemed to multiply when Sam was pretending to be a little boy. The way he cocked his head with sincerity or the way his eyes lit up with joy each time that they praised him. Sam was almost too adorable for his own good. Especially now, Dean noted, as he watched Sammy’s behavior in the rear view. He had yawned once, Dean had heard it, and it had been the tiny squeaky sound that accompanied the yawn that had drawn Dean’s gaze. The second time, Sammy tried to mask it behind his rather large hand, but the gesture was easily recognized. 

“Hey buddy,” Dean called back to him, the amount of compassion and warmth in his voice surprised him. “Maybe its time to close your eyes and rest, we still have a ways to go.”

“I don’t like nap time,” Sammy admitted, but he was not arguing. He was obediently packing away his things into the backpack at his feet.

“Yeah, but your Daddy says that little boys who have naps are less likely to be cranky and get in trouble,” replied Dean, he checked the road quickly before he let go of the wheel with one hand. Reaching over, he pulled another bag up from the floorboard of the passengers seat. They had seemed to acquire extra luggage since that day and the swing set, this was Sammy’s bag that Cas insisted on. It had his necessities in it, and Cas kept it readily available and within arms reach. Expertly, Dean jerked the zipper aside and fished out the two things that Sam would be expecting, the blanket and his dragon. “And I don’t want you to get in trouble, because we’re having a good time.”

Sammy did that cocking his head to the side thing again, his big lips managing just a hint of a smile. He reached out of his things, and Dean handed them to him “Yeah… this is fun. I like spending time with my big brother!”

“You’re pretty cool yourself baby bro,” Dean answered him, putting his hands back on the wheel. “You need anything else from me?”

“Yeah… to tell me that I don’t have to take a nap!” Sam answered playfully, but he was already cuddling up with that stupid bear, using it as a gigantic pillow.

“Ain’t happening,” chuckled Dean his fingers flexing around the frame of the wheel. “Rest well Sammy.”

“Love you, Dean.”

Dean felt a lump in his throat. The way he said it was so simple. So innocent. So pure. Sammy did not love him because of the millions of times that Dean had saved his life, killed the bad guy, or protected him from the outside would. Sam loved him because he was his brother, and that was what you did for family. You loved them, with no conditions or limitations. Sniffing back a compulsion to cry, he pressed his foot down hard on the accelerator, managing a whispered and shaky reply, “Love you too Sammy buddy.”

* * *

 

“Are we there yet?”

If it had not been the fifteenth time that Sammy had asked, Dean would have chuckled at the whine in his tone, but at this point he was sick of the question and the whine.

“I told you five minutes ago, we have about 75 more miles.” Somehow Dean was managing not to yell at him, but his voice was pushing pretty high octaves of frustration.

“But its dark, and I’m not allowed to read in the dark, Daddy says its bad for my eyes. I can’t color in the lines either, and my ipod is dead…” Sammy was kicking the back of Dean’s seat again, not as an act of misbehavior, but because he was truly bored and seeking for Dean to acknowledge his misery.

“Stop that,” Dean scolded. Sammy did, a whimper filled the dark car. Dean sighed loudly, rolling his eyes. Maybe it was best that he stop, even though the thought of being so close and stopping now made him physically sick. He really did not want to murder his little brother, and Sam was treading on thin ice.

He saw a run down motel in the distance, there was a diner across the street, and a small supermarket… his kind of hole in the wall little town. Sammy practically squealed with glee when Dean whipped the car into a parking space of the diner.

“Let’s get some food in your tummy,” Dean announced, throwing the car into park. He heard Sammy unbuckling his seatbelt and the door handle opening. Dean hurried to beat him out of the car, knowing that Sam would take off for the door with or without him. Dean caught up to him at the door of the diner, and reacted in a surprising manner. He took Sam by the upper arm to pull him close, his lips scolding sternly in the taller mans ear. “Don’t you run away from me in the parking lot, little boy.”

Sammy’s cheekbones fell as they typically did when Cas scolded him. Dean finally understood what Castiel meant when he told Dean that it only took mere words to put Sam back into line. Sam’s face promised obedience and the need to please. “S-s-sorry Dean.”

“It’s okay,” Dean found himself crumbling at the tiny voice that Sam managed despite being so big. He let go of Sam to open the door. “Let’s get something to eat.”

They seated themselves in a booth, Sam sliding into the booth quietly, still looking like a kicked puppy from Dean’s firm words. Dean shook his head at the dramatics, but thought of a quick way to cheer him up as the waitress brought them menus. “Hey, can we get the kids menu and some crayons.”

The lady looked at them puzzled for a few second, and Sam was already starting to smile at the though. Dean met her look with a sarcastic look of his own. “It’s been a long ride, my brother wants to color to relax.”

For some reason, that seemed to appease her and she brought back a kids menu and a tiny package of crayons. Dean was looking at the adult menu when he felt Sammy tap his hand. “What? Oh.” Dean looked over the laminated pages to see Sammy handed him the crayons. “You want me to open them?” 

Sammy’s chin bobbed up and down. Dean opened the box and dumped them on the table in front of his brother. He watched Sam take the blue crayon into his big fingers and he began to work on the word search in the corner of the children’s menu.

“I’m thinking a bacon cheeseburger for me,” Dean announced closing his menu to look over a Sammy, his head intently bent over the decorative paper . “What about you buddy? Make any choices?”

“Daddy always helps me choose,” Sammy told him, his tongue falling out of the corner of his lips in a concentrated stare as he picked up the green crayon and began to finish his word search.

“Okay, then I will help you,” Dean deducted. How hard could it be? Sammy liked healthy food, right? “A salad?”

“No.”

“Chicken fingers?”

“No.”

“Fruit?”

“No.”

“Liver and onions?”

Sam wrinkled his nose. Dean laughed. “Is there anything you want?”

“Spaghettis.”

Dean forced himself not to role his eyes. Of course the kid would want something that a Mom and Pop diner did not have. He looked over the menu quickly to find a compromise. “You got a couple of options, because this place doesn’t have speghetties,” He did not even flinch at adding the extra s. “They have pasta salad or mac and cheese.”

Sam hummed in contemplation. “Mac and Cheese, please.”

“Mac and Cheese and Broccoli it is,” Dean announced, closing the menu with an approving grunt.

“Broccoli?” inquired Sam, looking up at him with that puzzled and wrinkled forehead. He was not complaining, because unlike Dean, he favored green things. He was surprised by Dean’s verdict, not expecting him to make such executive decisions like that.

“Yes, broccoli,” Dean replied leaving no room for argument, he picked up the red crayon from the table. With a grin, he placed an X in the middle of the empty tic-tac-to box. “I want my little brother to stay strong and healthy and broccoli helps.”

Sammy’s perplexed frown melted into a fluffy grin as Dean started the game. He clumsily drew his own mark into the game. Together, they filled all the tic-tac-to boxes. Dean won one. Sam won another. The cat took the final one.

The waitress returned for their orders. “I’ll have a coke and the bacon cheeseburger meal.” She took his menu and turned to Sammy. He was not paying attention, and Dean half chuckled.

“He’ll have some macaroni and cheese and some broccoli,” Dean ordered for him without a second thought, he did not even concern himself with the strange look from the waitress. “To drink he’ll have-

“Soda,” Sammy was obviously paying enough attention to interject his drink request. Dean fixed him with a glare, his eyebrow raised. Little shit was being manipulative.  They both knew that Cas did not allow Sam to have soda, and Dean could not exactly point that fact out with the doe eyed waitress standing at the table. Two could play at that game.

“Sure, bring him a soda, coke,” Sammy seemed pleased with Dean’s instructions. “Bring him a glass of water too, please.” For a moment, Sam looked like he was trying to figure out what Dean was trying to do, but he was puzzled. Having a glass of water with his soda did not seem like such a bad compromise. Shrugging it off, Sammy returned to his artwork. Dean was grinning with proud fervor, little Sammy had no idea that he was being outsmarted.

The waitress returned with their drink orders. As soon as she had walked away, Dean took the glass of coke from Sam’s reach. “I’ll take that,” Dean placed the coke on his side of the table. “How nice that she brought me an early refill. Don’t pout Sammy, you knew better in the first place.”

As much as he wanted too, Sammy could not argue. They both knew that he would not have even pushed had Castiel been sitting in the booth beside him. With a submissive sigh, Sam pulled off the wrapper of his straw half way before he blew the rest of the paper at his brother playfully. No hard feelings.

Dean laughed. Good, he did not want any problems for maintaining the rules and structure that Cas had put into place. So having Sammy joking around with him was a comfort.

“I need to go,” Sammy announced to Dean as he started to slide from the booth. Dean did not inquire as to what “go” meant, he was already looking around for the location of the diner’s restrooms.

“Do you want me to go with you?” inquired Dean, but he decided the correct himself. “Do you NEED me to go with you?”

Sammy shook his head his long locks of blonde hair flipping around his face. Cas might have seen it as to adamant and controlling of the situation, but Dean tried to look past it. “Straight there and straight back,” instructed Dean firmly. “No shenanigans.”

The taller boy had already rushed away adding a tiny hop in his scurry, leaving Dean to roll his eyes at Sam’s silly little skip. He wasn’t left alone for long, a flutter of angel wings and Cas was across from him where Sammy had been sitting. Dean jumped. “Jesus Cas…” He was looking around frantically to see if anyone had noticed Cas’ sudden appearance. “Don’t do that.”

“I apologize.” Cas said quickly, he was looking around too, but for obvious other reason. “Where is Sammy?”

“In the bathroom,” Dean answered as if the answer was simple and Cas had just asked the dumbest question ever.

“You let him go unaccompanied?”

“You need to chill out.” Dean was sipping his coke as if nothing was the matter, because nothing was the matter. “I can see the door, I watched him enter. I heard it click to lock. He’s been gone a whole minute, if he’s gone for more then three… then we panic. Stop being a worrier.”

Cas opened his mouth to object, but stopped when he saw the bathroom door open out of the corner of his eyes. The both saw the little gleem in Sammy’s eyes return when he laid his gaze on his Daddy.

“See. Told you.” Dean was smirking as they watched Sammy bound over to their little corner booth. He was trying to ignore how much they sounded like a pair of parents raising a child.

“Hi Daddy!”

“Hi Sammy.” Cas was sliding out so that he could put Sammy on the inside, up against the wall. Something they always seemed to do when Sam was little, not for actual reasons, but just because it just felt right. “Have you been good for your brother today?”

Sammy had already resumed coloring when Cas sat down and asked him about the day. He nodded absent mindedly, and Castiel laughed at him. “Should I ask Dean?” Another nod from Sam. Cas changed the angle of his head and was now staring Dean down.

“Everything was alright?”

“Sure, Sam was good,” Dean answered, he was poking the straw around at the ice in his glass. “It was fun. We had a good time. He took a nap, we talked… no problems. I think he was getting a little tired though, that’s why I stopped.”

“It is very close to his bedtime,” Cas reminded them all. Sammy did not comment, but the huff that escaped his mouth made it very clear how he felt about bedtime. Dean and Cas exchanged a small smile.

“You had no problems, Dean?” Cas asked again, though the question was clearly rephrased. It was directed at him, not about Sammy or his behavior. At first Dean wanted to retort that he had already confirmed that everything was okay, but it took him a few seconds to realize that Cas was asking about his mental state and not Sammy’s.

Dean twirled the glass on the table, slid it from one hand to another, and looked down that damp streak that it left. “I was okay,” Dean finally admitted. “At first, I did not think I would be, but… I had a really good time.” Dean wanted to say more, but the waitress showed up with there food. She seemed annoyed that someone else had joined them, and with a sneer offered to get Cas some food.

“Just a water for me,” Cas retorted, sending her away with the wave of his hand. He was instinctively unwrapping Sam’s utensils for him, and then reached over to place the napkin in the boys lap. Sammy, who was not phased by Cas’ behavior was already shoving forkfuls of the macaroni into his oversized mouth.

“You were saying, Dean?” With one arm on the booth, he was using his fingers to pat Sammy’s head lovingly.

Of course Cas was not going to let the conversation go. That would have been too simple. Dean shook the bottle of ketchup, and he squired out a considerable amount onto the burger. He took a bite, chewed it leisurely, and swallowed a gulp of coke before treating Cas to his answer.

“It was cool, okay?” Dean finally drawled out. “Taking care of Sammy. It felt right. It felt good. It felt like how I took care of him when he was an actual kid. I was never a bad big brother.”

Cas’ brow wrinkled in a frown. “No one ever said you were, Dean.”

“I did,” Dean admitted as he watched Sam munch on a stalk of broccoli. “I’ve said it a thousand and one times, but today, it made me realize that I did the best that I could with what I was given. Now…” Dean sucked in a deep breath; he took a fry from his plate and played with it nervously. “I’ve been given a second chance to do right by Sam, not that I need too actually fix anything, but I need to reassure myself. I like seeing Sammy happy, I like making Sam happy. It was a win/win situation for both of us.”

“I’ve always been happy with you Dean,” Sam told him, his mouth full of the cheesy pasta.

Cas reached over to whisper something to him, but he was smiling so the tiny scolding that Dean knew that Sammy had just gotten for talking with his mouth full was not serious. Sammy swallowed his food with a gigantic gulp and chased it with a hug slurp of water. “Really Dean, I’ve always been happy with you.”

“I know, buddy,” Dean replied. He felt that lump in his throat rising again, he tried to swallow it down like Sammy had just swallowed down his food, but it did not happen. “I was just surprised that it makes me happy when I see you being a kid, and it shocked me that actually made me happy to help you do that today.”

“So… we can do it again?” Sammy prompted, leaning forward. He had that look again, if Dean said know there be a pout and puppy dog eyes to follow.

“I don’t think I can go back to ignoring you, even if I tried,” insisted Dean with a laugh. “You’re stuck with me…”

“I have two Daddies!” Sam announced happily, his cheesy grin so big it spread over his entire face.

“Well… I don’t know about that…” Dean started, before Cas interjected.

“Dean can be your other Daddy as long as he is not being my little boy,” the angel said, patting Sammy on the back. “And as long as he is okay with that. I think that this role is very important for him, just like being a little boy is for you.”

Before Dean could interject, Cas was fixing him with a serious look. “You said it yourself, Dean, you are giving yourself a second chance for Sam. Maybe this way we can work on those demons a different way.”

Any objections that he had thought about raising fell on the wayside. “But you’re his Daddy, I’m just…”

“The other one,” Sam said as if it was simple. Dean wished it was that simple, but it was complicated, his brain made it so. Everything that Dean tried to do was complicated. Sammy and Dean had a Dad… he was a class A failure, but they had a Dad. No matter how much Dean wanted to step in and replace John in that role, it just seemed weird.

“Dean…” Sam’s voice switched suddenly as he leaned forward. Dean realized that he was talking to the adult version of Sam, and their eyes met in a lock of acceptance. “It’s okay. If you think about it, you’ve always been that anyway. I’m not going to call you Daddy, if you don’t want me too. I can stick with your name.”

That thought made Dean angry. Not at Sam, but at the thought of not being able to be called Daddy by Sam. It also scared him, because he did not want to take that title from Castiel either. “Are you fine calling us both that?”

Sam thought about it for a minute. “Yeah, it might be confusing… but I’m sure we’ll manage.”

“What about you?” Dean turned suddenly to Cas, who had been listening contently to their conversation.

“Me?”

“Yes you, dumb ass. You’re part of this picture too,” Dean sputtered out him, rolling his eyes.

Cas was about to scold him for language, but remembered that they were talking as adults and held back. “I am here to make you both happy,” Cas finally said, his hands twisting in his lap. “As long as it does not interfere with the happiness of either one of you, I am not opposed, I will obviously have the last word in this matter. If I feel that Dean needs to step back from his role as Daddy then he will answer to me. Sammy, until that time is specified, you answer to both of us. I will educate him on your rules, and work with him, but from now on you will respect him in the same manner as you respect me? Dean, I trust that I do not have to remind you that this is a great responsibility and that you will need to be very patient while assuming this role. Is this clear? Are all of these things acceptable for now? ”

Sam and Dean exchanged a look. Seemed fair. Sam shrugged and Dean made a cocky acceptance gesture with his chin.

“Then let this be a trial run,” Cas said, settling the matter. He needed to put Sam back his headspace, and he did so by nodding to the plate of food. “Finish your dinner, little boy.”

“And you,” Cas was looking at him with a grin. “Stop shaking, you made the right call. Everything will be just fine.”

Dean gulped, and could only hope that Cas promise would hold true. He could barely touch his burger after that. Sammy, had no problem slipping back to his boyish world, and was blowing bubbles into his water cup, trying to sooth the awkward silence. Cas ignored the bubble blowing, his eyes fixed on Dean. As if he saw right through him.

“Dean,” he finally said. “If I need to parent you too, then I can reverse our decision and make you eat your dinner.”

Dean glanced down at the plate, he stomach churned at the thought of eat it. “No Cas, its fine,” Dean promised him. His fingers curled around the bun despite not wanting too eat it. He took a mouthful, and as it sank into his stomach he felt relief. Each bite was easier after that. Sammy started blowing bubbles again, and this time Dean reacted out of instinct.

“Stop that.”

Behind his cup, Sam grinned. Apparently, his whole plan had to been to coax a reaction out of Dean. Which—Dean had to admit--had been a brilliant plan. Now the awkwardness was gone, and Dean was in the role that he needed to be for Sammy.

“If you do that again, I will take the straw away from you,” Dean promised him, though he was smiling right along with Sammy.

“Yes Daddy.”

Dean did not feel the moment of shame wash over him that time, it seemed right. He nodded in acceptance before vowing to finish his burger.

With a content smile, Cas slipped his arm around Sammy’s shoulder and pulled him into a hug. As Dean watched their interaction, he could not contain his grin either. Together, he and Cas would take care of Sammy, and when he needed it… Cas would take care of him.

How could their life get any better? Oh yeah… Dean had one way.

“So… about that bear…” He began.

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This could also be entitled... "When Daddy is away the boys will.... totally re-negotiate the terms of the whole relationship." 
> 
> Yeah... i'm not sure why this happened, it just did. 
> 
> My readers feedback on this plot point is very important, I take what you have to say about this 'Verse very seriously. 
> 
> Do you think this changes things for better or for worse? How do you think Dean will actually handle this? Will he be able to be bother a Daddy and a little boy? Really... let me know. It's your words that influence what happens next in Swing Set Land.


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